Brilliant year for music. Pink Floyd in Abbey Road recording Piper at the Gates of Dawn while the Beatles were in the next studio doing Sergeant Pepper. Bliss! 67 really was the beginning of something big.

Great year, it has: The Doors, The Velvet Underground & Nico, Are You Experienced, Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Heart Club Band.

Should 100% be top 3, along with 1967 and 1969. Anyone who knows about music beyond dad rock knows this. Funnily enough I didn't notice anyone mention In The Court Of The Crimson King, Trout Mask Replica, In A Silent Way or Hot Rats in the 1969 section, even though those are some of the most important albums of that year, and I feel the aforementioned dadrock bias played a role in that.But anyway, any year which had BOTH of the albums that founded an entire genre (Spiderland and Laughing Stock), the album which defined, perfected (arguably) and is still synonymous with an entire genre (Loveless), a fantastic album looking at Loveless' genre from a completely different angle (Yerself Is Steam), the album which bridged two of the most polarising black genres with its groundbreaking production (The Low End Theory), Swans' first major step away from noise rock (White Light From the Mouth of Infinity) and for good measure one more album which created a genre (Blue Lines), as well as, ...more

The King of Pop, The Prince of Funk, L.A. rock, Euro synth, punk, metal, hip hop, etc. This year was explosive!

Some 'Ace Synth Pop Tunes' came out that Year. God...So many to choose...

I don't know why the '80s are so low on this list, especially compared to the garbage of 1999+ music (ever since Napster, its never been the same! ) In addition to Purple Rain (and other Prince protege artists like Sheila E's Glamorous Life), you also had Born in the USA, Twisted Sister's, Madonna's Like A Virgin, Footloose, Ghostbusters, Wham! 's Make It Big, Hall & Oates' Big Bam Boom, Duran Duran's Reflex and Wild Boys, Tina Turner's huge comeback, U2's Pride (In The Name of Love), Huey Lewis Sports (released in '83 but the hits were mostly in '84), MTV in its prime, and much more! It seems like this list is bias towards just albums, but remember that singles also count, and if you listen to Top 40 countdowns from this year (and 1983 and 1985), it was a time where it was easy to find a variety of fun songs to "sing along" to, which is what music should be about. Appreciate the one-and two-hit wonders and artists who don't get more appreciation, such as Shannon with her ...more

The music from this year that was not on the pop 100 is really good. There was good quality music being made that was not on the charts that was great and far better than the popular stuff. From many genres rock, alternative, funk/boogie, R&B. Combat Rock - The Clash for example was released in Spring of 82' and those of us who were into things new caught on quick. But for most it did not catch on until late 82 to 83. Such albums as Rio - Duran Duran released in May and Shabooh Shoobah - Inxs released in October also follow that pattern. A year for both change and innovation that has really influenced music after. There was so much going on under the radar with funk, heavy metal, and hip hop's beginnings, and rock that most people do not know. Search for some funk/boogie, alternative music away from the charts that year and you will think very differently about this year. The Sounds "All Fall Down", Gang of Four "Songs of the Free", Talk Talk "The Party's ...more

The year an album was released is more important than any one single and also most of you are forgetting the U.S. is not the only country were a certain year was important, Especially if the artist and album came from that country and it's not the U.S.. 1982 albums that are solely from 82' and released as such and 82 takes all the credit.

Example:

Rio - Duran Duran

Combat Rock - The Clash

Missing Persons - Spring Session M

Frida - Something's Going On (actually an excellent album)

ABC - Lexicon of Love

These few would be somewhere to start. Stop placing them in 1983! Also these albums were released and make this year: Judas Priest - Screaming For Vengeance, Scorpions - Blackout, Iron Maiden - Number of the Beast, Shoot Out The Lights - Richard & Linda Thompson, Nebraska - Bruce Springsteen, Imperial Bedroom - Elvis Costello, Donald Fagen - Nightfly, The Dreaming - Kate Bush, Upstairs At Eric's - Yazzo, A Broken Frame - Depeche Mode and ...more

Ah...When 'Synth Pop' was at its Peak. We had 'Depeche Mode - Yazoo - Thompson Twins' and many more back then.

Such a great year, Puppets, Peace Sells, Reign in Blood, awesomeness, just completely awesome. - MattAffterburner

SlayerMetallica

The 80's was, without a doubt, the greatest decade for Thrash Metal, ever.

Some of the best iconic albums of the 80s came out this yearGenesis-Invisible Touch,Top Gun soundtrack,Madonna-True Blue, Paul Simon-Graceland, Pet Shop Boys-Please, Janet Jackson-Control, Bon Jovi-Slippery When Wet and many many more

Physical Graffiti, Wish You Were Here, and A Night at the Opera. - SammySpore

Kansas released two of their best albums that year, Song For America and Masque. Jethro Tull also had Minstrel in the Gallery and Iron Maiden was formed this year. - DarkenedBrutality (Obviously since no other user would likely mention Kansas)

And Springsteen’s Born to Run and Dylan’s Blood on the Tracks. Arguably the two best albums from these icons.

81971

This year had it all. All the progressive artists found a way to collide in this year and blow our minds with awesomeness.

Jethro Tull became a well-known prog rock band (although overshadowed by bands such as Rush and Genesis) with their Aqualung album, Led Zeppelin their 4th self-titled album, Black Sabbath continued building heavy metal with Master of Reality, John Lennon's Imagine was released, Genesis released The Musical Box and Return of the Giant Hogweed, two prog rock classics, and a third would be made by Yes called Roundabout. Not only that, but The Who became legends with their biggest album featuring songs like Won't Get Fooled Again. This was truly the best year for all of music, as two of the three greatest songs of all time according to most people were released this year.

Best year albums ever.

I listen to sticky fingers and every picture tells a story way too much so I guess my vote goes here

First pantera album metal magic, shout out the devil by motley crue which was a commercial success and first thrash metal album become available in stores show no mercy by slayer this was one the heaviest years in music history

Also pyromania released by def leppard which was a very commercial success and kill'em all by metallica the first ultimate thrash metal album but they did the first tour in chicago and thriller ranked number one by michael jackson and became the best selling album of all time

Queen's debut, Dark Side of the Moon, Houses of the Holy, etc. - Metarock

The greatest year for not only Prog, but Music in General! The Dark Side Of The Moon, Brain Salad Surgery, Tubular Bells, Selling England By The Pound. Larks' Tongues in Aspic, Quadrophenia, Tales From Topographic Oceans, and Over-Nite Sensation. - Beatlesboy9

Awesome year for music! The Dark Side of the Moon, Selling England by the Pound, and Larks' Tongues in Aspic were released this year. - SammySpore

Not to Mention Tales from Topographic Oceans, Tubular Bells, Quadrophenia, Brain Salad Surgery and A Passion Play and Space Ritual. By far, the greatest year of progressive rock. - patrickfloyd

Definitely was a big year for T.V. as Family Guy and Spongebob started that year. It also was when music really started to become “modern” which I mean genres merge, pop becomes more popular than rock, many modern musicians start to merge, and more electronics are used and eventually replace instruments which is either good or bad depending on your opinion. I do definitely hear a difference between the early and late 90s.

This is the year that supernatural released by santana and ranked number one for long weeks on the chards and they won 8 grammy awards in 2000 and bruce dickinson returns back in the band what great comeback

The creation of dubstep! Nice year!

HOW IS THIS SO LOW? It may not have been a great year for music (with the exception of Californication by RHCP), but multiple fantastic bands and singers released their first public albums and EPs that year, letting it be known that they would be to force to be reckoned with. 1999 gave birth to them. - Songsta41

Careless Whisper (George Michael), Don't You Forget About Me (Simple Minds), We Are the World (USA for Africa), Everybody Wants to Rule the World (Tears for Fears), I Want to Know what Love is (Foreigner), several hits from Madonna, Easy Lover (Phil Collins and Philip Bailey), several hits from Hall & Oates, Bryan Adams, Bruce Springsteen... just look up all the songs from this year

Best year for memorable singles

Spawned so many 80’s classics like Everybody Wants to Rule the World and Careless Whisper

251979

Fear of Music. Unknown Pleasures. Metal Box.

The Wall. The Wall. - vr46

Everything was happening in 1979 - disco, punk, new wave, hard rock, early rap, Motown, ska! This is only a small sampling of artists and albums that were either released or made the charts that year. There were so many artists experimenting with new sounds. Synthesizers were used creatively to make unique sounds but everyone of these bands were still using guitars and drums (unlike the pop music of the mid-80's). I feel sorry for today's youth with the mumble-rap, autotuned, nasal voiced pop divas and the homogeneous production that is composed and played by computers not real musicians.Blondie Parallel LinesThe Police Regatta de BlancPink Floyd The WallJoy Division Unknown PleasuresAC/DC Highway to HellThe Clash London CallingSugarhill Gang Rappers DelightB-52sSupertramp Breakfast in AmericaCars Candy-OMichael Jackson Off the WallAbba, Chic, Earth Wind and Fire, Queen, Dire Straits, Madness, Kiss, etc.

-> Hardcore punk was created, in 1980 some pinnacles of the genre were made (especially "Fresh Fruit For Rotting Vegetables" by Dead Kennedys)

-> Metal music achieved mass recognition and success (especially "British Steel" by Judas Priest, but also "Blizzard of Ozz" by Ozzy Osbourne, "Ace of Spades" by Motorhead, debut Iron Maiden album, debut Diamond Head album and "Heaven and Hell" by Black Sabbath were released in 1980)

-> Second best hard rock album ever was released (speaking about "Back in Black" by AC/DC), also some nice rock albums were made by Van Halen and Queen

In my opinion it's number 1, rest of the list would be:

2. 1984 - peak of synthpop ("Forever Young" by Alphaville, "Junk Culture" by OMD), great year for metal ("Powerslave" by Iron Maiden, "Ride the Lightning" by ...more

281968

1968 was one of my favorite years in rock music, for example the beatles released their next number one selftitled album or the white album, the rolling stones recorded beggars banquet that their song sympathy for the devil became a major hit and very important track for their tours. Also the beatles recorded the first heavy metal song called helter skelter and it became an iconic hit for metal bands who covering the track, groups like motley crue and aerosmith that are the only popular bands who cover this metal masterpiece. On the hand, the beatles became the influence of heavy metal that many groups formed bands like led zeppelin, black sabbath, judas priest, urian heep and many more.

October of 1968 saw the following on the charts AT THE SAME TIME;The BeatlesElvis PresleyFrank SinatraThe Rolling StonesMarvin GayeJimi HendrixThe Beach BoysCreamThe DoorsThe TemptationsJames BrownThe Four TopsRay CharlesJanis Joplin... And many more HOF acts.CASE CLOSED!

291978

Bands to release their first album in 1978:The Cars, Van Halen, Toto, Dire Straits, Midnight Oil, Journey with Steve Perry (I know they had three previously)Notable Hits:Stayin' Alive, Runnin' On Empty, Turn To Stone, Hot Blooded, Just The Way You Are, Summer Night City1978 was the beginning of the music that really blossomed in the 80s.

Van Halen was one of the most important albums for guitar revolution

302013

Underrated year for music. The charts were amazing in 2013. - Aha223

This year has amazing pop tunes! I still listen to them all the time. Definitely the best year in music of the 2010s so far!

2013 had some of the best pop songs ever. There are so many good songs from that year its ridiculous lol.

NWA, Nation of Millions by Public Enemy. Straight out the Jungle by Jungle Brothers. Singularly the most important year for hip hop and rap music that had pretty much dominated popular music around the world for the last twenty years

Straight Outta Compton! (Gangster rap is born) - trtrtrt

The start of N.W.A n Gangsta rap

331867

342008

Rihanna, Kelly Clarkson, Taylor Swift, Lady Gaga, and more, all had awesome music in 2008. Definitely one of my favourite years for music!

Some of the best songs were released this year, which include Starless (King Crimson), Cat's In The Cradle (Harry Chapin), Burn (Deep Purple), Working Man (Rush), and Journey from Mariabronn (Kansas).

Why was this not on the list. Tons of awesome albums were released this year. King Crimson's Starless and Bible Black AND Red albums. Queen II and Sheer Heart Attack. Also Yes's Relayer and Tales from Topographic Oceans! - SammySpore

My Chemical Romance released their first album on July 23, 2002. - railfan99

THE Eminem SHOW!

Nelly hot in here dilemmaNew found Glory My friends over you

382007

As probably the only person who liked this year, in just the top 40 there were a TON of great songs. From Linkin Park, Timbaland, Nelly Furtado, Fergie, Justin Timberlake, Fall Out Boy, and Rihanna, to name a few. - WonkeyDude98

An amazing year for Indie music. The Shins, Spoon, Modest Mouse, and Deer and the Headlights all came out with their detestably best albums this year

Three legendary classic rock bands reunited for at least one show this year. The bands are namely: Led Zeppelin, Genesis, and The Police. - Oneside

Most of my playlist is filled with music from this year, it was pretty good compared to ten years later.

Every single song from 2012 was a banger. Best year in music, you can't change my mind.

I remember sitting in the car in 2012 with my second cousin and her friend singing pop music from the radio. It brings back so many good memories and a great time before the terrible rise of music and social media.

In 2012 we got Ed Sheeran's debut album, Taylor Swift put out some bangers, Katy Perry was good for the final time, We Are Young went to #1, this was Imagine Dragon's and Chris Brown's year, Zedd and David Guttea put out some of the best EDM songs of all time,Maroon 5 put out their best songs since Songs About Jane, Ellie Goulding put out her second best song yet, heck even country got a few good songs.

Unpopular opinion, but 2012 was the best year in pop music. It was before pop (at the least the bad pop) lost meaning in their lyrics and creativity.

This was an excellent year for music. Harvey Danger released Flagpole Sitta, Green Day released their Nimrod Album, Sugar Ray released Floored (besides Fly, there were actually some amazing Nu metal songs on there) and The Offspring released Ixnay on the Hombre. This year is one you can say a lot about in music terms.

Is nobody gonna mention "Close to the Edge", "Foxtrot", "Thick as a Brick", "Trilogy", or "Per un amico"? Wow

Thick as a Brick alone should be enough to make 1972 one of the best years in music.Don't forget Pink Floyd's Obscured by Clouds and Deep Purple's Machine Head. - MaxPap

Ziggy

442000

Debut albums of both Coldplay and Linkin Park. Do I need to say more?

The year Eminem released The Marshall Mathers LP. Stan is a masterpiece

Will the Real Slim Shady Please make more songs. The Marshall Mathers LP ROCKS! The album that saved 2000

If it wasn’t for Eminem this year would’ve been at the bottom

452011

Best year for 2010s

Greatest year for music in 21st ceuntry

This should be higher. We had good music all over, except for Friday (of course..) - Aha223

461955

1954 is the best year. Elvis at Sun Records, he was happy and had not met Colonel Tom Parker. "My music just wasn't the same after Sun"- Elvis

472003

Modern Rock at it's finest! - Johnalove

Three Days Grace's self-titled album was releasedEvanescence's "Fallen" was releasedLinkin Park's "Metora" was released

481996

492006

Every good song came out in 2006. If you learn nothing else today, I just want you to understand that EVERYTHING good came out in 2006. - sunnydhamm

2006 was the best year for emo! Do I have to remember you my chemical romance, panic! at the disco, The red jumpsuit apparatus? Also it was a great year for punk rock as well with Senses Fail (i have a special place for them in my emo-punk heart ♥)

Injectionwelcome to the black paradeThrough the Fire and Flamesthis ain't a scene, its an arms race.sexybackdo I have to go farther?

Three Days Grace's "One X" was releasedEvanescence's "The Open Door" was releasedBreaking Benjamin's "Phobia" was released

Need I say more?

502009

Facts this is the best year for music hands down

Eminem's return

21 guns - mmarce445

This year was the best for music ever. I cannot stop listening to all these awesome songs from 2009. It was the best year ever for music and it deserves to be a lot higher than that.